A heated race for sheriff in Sullivan County has reached a new level of controversy following the release of an edited video alleging misconduct among the department’s top brass.

The video, comprised of a compilation of sheriff’s office recordings, was initially shared anonymously on several Sullivan County Facebook groups last week, just days before the Republican primary in the race between longtime sheriff Mike Schiff and retired New York State Police senior investigator Tim Dymond.

It allegedly shows former Sullivan County Deputy Michele Resnick during a recorded jailhouse video call smiling and blowing kisses at Michael Hiller, an inmate, at the county jail. The same woman is allegedly seen on department surveillance camera in a separate instance, in plain clothes and seemingly upset while in an embrace with Undersheriff Eric Chaboty inside a department patrol room, and on another occasion, in uniform while entering the undersheriff’s parked truck.

Resnick is alleged in a written narrative on the video to be seen entering a closet with the inmate for 20 seconds while on duty, but video of that incident is not shown. The video accuses Chaboty of being in an intimate relationship with the woman and covering up her alleged inappropriate relationship with the inmate by allegedly allowing her to resign without conducting an investigation or imposing any consequences.

“The video is completely false and pieces together several historical segments from the sheriff’s office and then offers its own narrative,” says Chaboty. “The video is altered to make it look like I’ve been captured alone with her, as though we’ve had some sort of romantic encounter, which is not what happened.”

The recording was removed from social media several times before it was eventually shared by Kyle Conklin, a concerned resident from Parksville. Conklin says he didn’t directly obtain the video, but rather saved it and re-shared it when he saw it was taken down.

“I just wanted to make sure it would stay up and have a lot of unanswered questions as to why an inmate and a corrections officer are going off camera together in a close setting,” Conklin says.

News 12 has been unable to track down the video’s original poster. The Sullivan County Sheriff’s Office says its conducting an investigation into the matter.

Sullivan County Sherrif Mike Schiff says the video is an orchestrated political attack ahead of the primary on June 24, and claims the videos are being grossly taken out of context.

“The purpose was to muddy us up to get someone elected for sheriff and I find that apprehensive. I’m angry. It takes a lot to get me angry. This is totally unacceptable in my world and the police world and in a decent world. You make an allegation, you have something to back it up. That video is laughable,” says Schiff.

Chaboty says he has had a 30-year friendship with Resnick, who was hired during COVID-19 and later resigned when she self-reported “having feelings” for the inmate in March 2023. They say the former deputy did not begin a relationship with the inmate until after her resignation and that Chaboty is seen in the video trying to help the woman on two separate occasions, including when the relationship with Hiller went sour.

“{Hiller} was let out of the Sullivan County Jail because he was going to work for the Sullivan County District Attorney’s Office in order to buy drugs and guns from other criminals on the street,” Chaboty says. “{Resnick} was out of the sheriff’s office for over a year at that point. She had gone to the casino with the ex-inmate and he got into her car and took off.”

Resnick reported her car stolen as a result of that incident in March 2024, according to Chaboty. He says one of the clips shown in the video is of him consoling Resnick when she came in upset to file a complaint.

“Sometime later, she reported her car stolen. In the car was her personal firearm in a lock box. Unfortunately, the key to the lockbox was on her key ring. {Hiller} was later found at a motel in Monticello and arrested in possession of her gun and was using drugs at that time,” Chaboty says.

Hiller was charged in the incident involving Resnick’s vehicle and firearm. He was sentenced in March to 12 years in state prison on those charges and on his original charges, which involved two separate arrests for drug possession and a domestic violence incident in which authorities say he had a loaded, working firearm.

Chaboty says the other video of him with Resnick entering his truck captured an instance when he gave her over-the-counter medicine during a shift when she wasn’t feeling well.

Dymond claims he has nothing to do with the video and wants Schiff and the Sullivan County Legislature to investigate the allegations raised.

“I’m calling on someone to be in charge. There is no one doing their job right now with this. Anywhere else in any jurisdiction this would be investigated. There would be punishments doled out,” Dymond says. “It’s not a secret in Sullivan County and still no one is looking into it. We are told to accept that nothing happened, there’s no need for an investigation and everyone just look away.”

Sullivan County Legislative Chairperson Nadia Rajsz declined to comment on the allegations and wouldn’t say if the county will investigate the claims.

Chaboty says the sheriff’s office reviewed Resnick conduct when she resigned to determine the nature of her dealings with the inmate while she was employed with the department and found nothing improper.

“Hiller was a porter, a jail role similar to a janitor. There were cleaning chemicals in a broom closet he had access to. It is very common for a deputy to go into the broom closet with the inmate to make sure they’re not doing anything they’re not supposed to be doing. This allegation was raised at the time she resigned. We looked at the video and found nothing out of order,” Chaboty says.

Dymond disagrees.

“This is a criminal investigation all day long. They are in a closet alone. A male inmate with a female CO who clearly had a relationship. We are told to accept that nothing happened. Everyone just look away and I feel like people are getting tired of that,” says Dymond.

Since the video’s release, retired Sullivan County Sheriff’s Lt. Paul Slavik has come forward claiming his former bosses are under investigation by the FBI. Slavik claims he gave federal officials proof of doctored accident reports before he left the department in 2023.

“To this day, nobody has asked me, ‘Hey, Lieutenant, you were making accusations about corruption. Tell us more.” Instead when I go looking for a document, all of a sudden I get put on paid administrative leave,” Slavik says.

News 12 has not been able to confirm whether the FBI is investigating the sheriff’s office.

Slavik claims he was forced to resign after it was discovered by the department that he was providing information to federal officials and was suspended.

Chaboty, however, says Slavik is a “disgruntled” former employee.

“He tried to position himself as a whistleblower and he could not substantiate that. Any claims he made are just wild accusations."

The sheriff’s office says they’re unaware of an FBI investigation into the department and Resnick has not responded to our requests for comment.